Mafia III Rivals Review (Sony Xperia XZ): Just the Mafia Name, Not the Mafia Game (Video)

As you know, earlier this month the game Mafia III was launched on consoles and on the PC and just like it happens with most famous games, it also got a companion game on mobile. We played the Android version on the Sony Xperia XZ and we were pretty underwhelmed. The game is free in the Play Store and it’s a wannabe action/RPG.

The core of the game is merely tapping on the pictures of mobsters to make them attack enemies that come in waves. A pseudo story and pseudo dialog are also included, but you can ignore them. The only good thing about Mafia III Rivals is the animation that’s triggered with every enemy attack. Mobsters will be getting ready to punch you, pull out a beer can to heal some allies and crack their knuckles to deliver a beating.

Once you’ve taken enough damage you can trigger special attacks or deliver boosts to your allies. You can heal them, make them dodge attacks, counter enemy attacks and deliver critical attacks. You’ll get a ton of items, that are actually useless, till you start upgrading your characters’ stats and skills. The campaign battles and PVP battles are all the same, feeling like boring grinding and annoying tap-tap-tap.

There’s no strategy, no skill, just tapping in a certain order. It’s a far cry from the New Bordeaux atmosphere in the console/PC title and we were underwhelmed. A part of me feels that some of the in game currency may be used in the full console/PC game, so that’s at least a reason to play it. We give it a 7 out of 10.